


Dawn 'til Dusk

by Caffeinated_Ginger



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst, Bella and Emmett shenanigans, Bella still being clumsy, Conspiracy Theories, F/F, F/M, Fixing cars, Fluff, Gay, Human Edythe Cullen, Human Jacob Black, Kinda, M/M, Motorcycles, Murder Mystery, Twilight Series Rewrite, Underage Drinking, Vampire Bella Cullen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25544917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffeinated_Ginger/pseuds/Caffeinated_Ginger
Summary: I could confidently say I knew three things pertaining to Bella: First, Bella was a vampire. Second, there was a part of her that thirsted for my blood, though I didn't know how strong that urge was. And third, that I was an idiot for falling in love with her.Edythe Masen's life is as boring as it is stressful. She hoped that she could relax for her senior year before going to Yale, though she didn't think moving to Forks was going to be too exciting. But that was before she meet a pretty girl and her strange family.- Twilight rewrite with Edythe as the human and Bella the vampire. Set in 2009. -
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edythe Cullen & Alice Cullen, Edythe Cullen & Bella Swan, Edythe Cullen & Emmett Cullen, Edythe Cullen & Jacob Black, Edythe Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Comments: 11
Kudos: 39





	1. First Sight

My father drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. 

Outside was a cool fifty-two degrees and I was wrapped up in a gray turtleneck and a honey yellow silk scarf that my mom said set my hair off beautifully. She gave it to me as a present the last time I visited her this summer. It was one of my grandmother Edythe’s scarfs, this one being her favorite. I decided to wear it as a way of saying goodbye and hello. 

Goodbye to lonely apartments and to rigorous private schools, goodbye to ridiculous dinner parties and to obnoxious country clubs, goodbye to having to be proper and happy and quiet and perfect. Goodbye to only being seen as Edward Masen’s daughter. Goodbye to Chicago. Hello to freedom. 

My destination: Forks. Forks was a nothing, little town in northwest Washington State. It was there that my mom ran to after the divorce, leaving me in Chicago with my father. It was also there that I would visit my mother for two weeks at the beginning of June and every other Christmas. The town being under consistent assault from the rain was one of my favorite things about Forks. Rain calms me, helps me think straight. I hoped in part it would help me get myself in order. 

The radio turns up and I reflexively turn my head. _Help, I’m Alive_ plays. My father grimaced and was about to change the station when he saw that I was looking at him. Instead, he turns back to the road suffering through Metric.

I turn away too. Leaves blew past my window as we continued to speed down the highway. My father had yet to say anything to me that day, or for the several days prior. I was partially surprised that he even drove me at all. Though I’m sure it had more to do with not wanting my car to stay in the parking garage than anything else. 

As soon as we got to the front of the airport drop off. I got out and took my luggage and turned to walk through the doors. 

“Edythe,” I almost considered not turning around. I barely shifted so that I was looking back, “Have a safe flight . . . Love you.” His eyes were intense and his lips were pulled thin into an almost-frown. 

“Yeah. . .” He almost looked hopeful, “You too.”

I turned and entered the lobby.

It’s a five-hour flight from Chicago to Seattle and then another hour flight to Port Angeles where my mom had got me. I’ve always hated plane flights. I can never get over the turbulence and the fact that I’m thousands of feet above the ground. A series of plane crash photos come to mind. _I really need to stop watching Air Disasters_. When I first planned on running away I considered just driving to save myself the trouble. Luckily all my prayers were answered because I made it safely to Port Angeles without any major issue. 

My mom was waiting in the lobby wearing a flowery summer dress that was way too inappropriate for Washington weather. She feverishly waved at me, with a smile plastered on her face. I got off the escalator and fell into sort of a half-hug with her. She pulled back without letting go of me, holding me by the shoulders, and sniffled, “Oh Edi It’s so great to see you. You look so much older than the last time I saw you.”

“That was literally three months ago Mom,” I took a step back and grabbed my suitcase again Mom took the duffle bag. I started to head towards the exit, Mom following behind me. 

She caught up to me and bumped me in the shoulder, “I know, but you were seventeen then. Now you're all grown up. Soon you’ll be leaving me and running off doing God knows what.” She laughed to herself. My mom always looked older than she is, impart because of all the smiling and laughing she does. I can’t think of a time when she wasn’t happy about something. 

I gave her a small smile back. I missed her so much. 

We got to the doors and then my mom hit some man with the duffle bag, “Oh, excuse me,” she said.

The guy wore a real worn-out pair of blue jeans and a frayed blue button-up. He had cropped light brown hair that looked self-done, he might have been homeless. He sneers at us then sniffs as though he smelt something good. A grin broke out across his face. His whole body shifted into a relaxed pose, but he stared at us intently, like a lion would when stalking his prey. I step behind my mom trying to hide from his eyes. 

He reached out a hand, “It’s no worry. Might you two need help with your bags?”

“We’re fine thank you,” my mom’s cheery tone turned sour. She pushed me back urging me to leave. He took a step towards us and grabbed my wrist that was holding the suitcase. He pulled me closer and sniffs again. I tried to rip my arm from his grasp but he held firm.

“It won’t be any tr-” 

“Hey,” a redheaded lady shouted, he let go of my wrist. I stepped back as far as possible, rubbing my wrist. She was looking at the creeper and tilted her head, “I think I found something to eat.” The man chuckled at us and left to follow her into the crowd. 

I sighed and backed out of the building to get as much distance from him. My mom pulled me into a side hug that I’m sure was meant to be reassuring, but came off nervous. We rushed to our car in silence and quickly threw the bags in the back seat and sped off. 

It took my mom a few minutes before she broke the silence, “Hey, you okay?”

“Huh?” I looked over, Mom had a tight smile and her eyes looked concerned, “Yea. It was just. . . Weird.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. I’m fine.”

She was still looking at me, “Sweetie are you su-”

“Yes, Mom. Just . . .” I pause, “Let’s listen to music,” I turned on the radio and blasted the music. My mom flinched then shook her head. For the duration of the drive, I looked out and watched the pine trees fly by pretending not to notice my mom's looks. 

We eventually got to the house. It was a decent-sized three-bedroom house that my mom grew up in. She lived there with my grandmother since she was wheel chair bound. The blue paint was chipped bad and the appliances were out-dated at best, but it felt cozy, like you could actually live in it. I took out my bags and stepped onto the rickety balcony. The squeaking must have alerted my grandma because she called out, “Lizzy that you?”

My mom opened the door and called up the stairs to her left, “Yes Mom, just got back from the airport,” She took off her coat and threw it onto a chair. As I dragged my bags up to my room Mom went into the kitchen to start dinner. At the top of the stairs, the bedroom door closet to the bathroom opened and my grandmother wheeled out.

“How’s my favorite granddaughter doing?” She reached up to hug me. I leaned down for a few seconds before I continued to put my stuff in my room and unpacked.

“How can I be your favorite if I’m the only one you have?” I teased as folded a shirt at my bed. She rolled herself into my front door and huffed a laugh.

“If you keep being cheeky I’ll stop giving you compliments,”

“Oh calm down,” I said and giggled, “I’m doing fine by the way. Are your legs doing any better?”

“No. Still have no feeling,” she shifted in the chair. Her eyes were downcast, but she looked up and smiled, “But Dr. Cullen did refer me to a physical therapist. Hopefully, he can do something for me.” 

“That’s good,” I said. I could tell it was getting a bit heavy, “Have you gotten any new coloring books.”

Her face broke into a real smile, “Yes. I found this new one with flowers and plants I thought you might like,” she backs out of my room into hers continuing to talk about a pomegranate that she had been working on. I dropped the sweatshirt I had in hand and followed her in.

I had laid awake staring at the ceiling counting rings in the oak beams. I had trouble sleeping at the best of times and then wasn't a good time. I had a weird anxious feeling about Forks High School. I kept going through worse-case scenario after worse-case scenario worrying about how not to seem like a pretentious private school kid. Maybe not using words like pretentious might help.

I turned to my side facing the window. The rain fell slowly and steadily, almost peacefully. I focused on the rain as I tried to block my thoughts; _how do I find my classes . . . I should get a map and memorize it beforehand . . . I should have asked Mom to get one now that I think about it . . . and how does public school lunch lines work . . . maybe I could pack a lunch . . . I wonder what the classes will be like . . . I wonder what the kids will be like . . . I wonder what they like . . . probably not classical music . . . or old sit-coms . . . or Air Disasters_ _. . . what do normal people talk about . . . probably new tv-shows or something popular . . . why don’t try harder to fit in . . . I should try . . . it's probably not going to work though . . . it's just too boring . . . why can’t I do anything right . . . why am I such an idiot . . ._ I shook my head. 

I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep.

“Up and at ‘em missy,” I felt the quilt being ripped from underneath me moments before I flipped face-first onto the floor.

“Ow, what the hell.”

“Oh, shit, sorry sweetheart,” Mom came running to the side of my bed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

“Lizzy, you didn’t break your daughter's nose, did you?” Grandma yelled from the other room.

“She’s a tough girl, she's fine!”

I scrunch my face and wiggle my nose, “I don’t know Mom I think my skull might be cracked.”

“Oh stop it,” she waved dismissively in my face, “Get ready I want to leave by five-thirty.” She left my room and hopped down the stairs.

I scoured through my bag looking for something simple, but nice. I came out with a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a green t-shirt. I checked myself in the mirror and decided it looked fine. After breakfast, Grandma wished me good luck, and Mom and I were off to school and work. She dropped me off at the curb by the sign to the school and drove off. The parking lot was mostly deserted aside from the three cars by the office building. I checked my watch, it was only five-forty and school didn’t start until eight. 

Great. 

First thing first I needed to go to the office and get my schedule, then second thing second I needed to find a fucking car. I trudged through the leaves piled ankle-high on the ground. Didn't they have anyone to clean it up? At the very least they should have been able to afford a leaf blower or something and give it to a janitor. 

I got to the building that read Front Office and walked inside. The office was fairly hectic; papers were posted on billboards that hung all around the office, plastic plants adorned almost all the available counter space, and what was left was taken up by wire baskets with flyers. The woman at the desk had greying red hair and wore a blue and yellow shirt that said “Go Spartans!” with a cartoon spartan head underneath. The door slammed behind me and the woman looked up from the monitor.

“Hello there. May I help you,” she said in an overly sweet tone. I wished they wouldn't act as though they care about you. I nodded but stayed by the front door, “Now I don’t bite dear come here.” She waved me over.

“I’m the new student Edythe Masen.” Her eyes widened. Not a good sign. I had expected that Mom or Grandma would have talked about me coming to live here but I hoped that no one would have acted weird around me.

“Oh, of course,” She dug through some folders and pulled a few sheets from them. She explained everything that I needed to know and sent me off, “By the way the cafeteria is open. Wouldn’t want you to get chilly,” she said.

I smiled at her, hopefully somewhat convincingly, and I exited the building. I hadn't really felt like going to the cafeteria. I thought back and remembered spotting a building that might have been the gymnasium. Running would be a good time waster. I headed that way and pulled out my i-pod and played No Doubt as I jogged over to the gymnasium. On my way I saw a fourth and fifth car had joined in the parking lot; an old rusting red Chevy and a sleek crimson Jeep. The owners were nowhere to be seen though.

It only took a few minutes to navigate the corridors and I found the gymnasium. I tried to push against the double doors, but they wouldn't budge. Locked. Damn.

“Hey,” I nearly jumped and then swung at the person behind me, but missed. The voice laughed, “Cool it, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he put his hands up in mock surrender. He was tall, like really tall. He was at least six-three and had real curly brown hair and strange coal-black eyes. He wasn’t bad to look at either if you're into his type. I apparently had been staring for a while because he gave a nervous chuckle, “So whatcha doin’ here?”

I shook my head and looked towards a wall, “Well I was going to run, but . . .” I nodded towards the door.

“Locked?” he asked. I was about to answer when he slung his backpack around his chest and started to rummage through his bag in search of something in one of the pockets. He made an ‘ah-ha’ sound after a few minutes of digging and pulled out a set of keys on a green and white lanyard. He unlocked the door and held it open, “Ladies first.”

“Is that allowed?” I asked.

“Is if I leave early enough,” he smiled.

I decided not to question it further and walked in. I changed and started on some basic stretches when the guy came out of the men's changing room with a basketball, “What’s your name if you don’t mind me asking,” I asked.

He went to the three-point line and started to dribble, “Emmett,” he said, “You?” 

“Edythe.”

Emmett nodded at me and went back to shooting hoops. I began jogging up the length of the gymnasium. It was great to stretch out my legs, I had been feeling wound up and tight lately and I needed an outlet. I felt loose and awake after a few minutes of light jogging, I then went to work on ladders. I used to be on the girl's soccer team back home, that's one thing I miss about home, maybe the only thing. I wonder if Forks has a team. A half-hour later, I slowed and worked on some cool-down stretches. While in a side lunge I saw Emmett walk up the half-court line and was getting ready to shoot.

“You're not really going to shoot it from back here, right?”

He snapped his head towards me, “Damn right I am,” he had a cocky grin on his face.

“Seriously?” I cocked an eyebrow at him, which he seemed to take personally.

“A bet then,” he turned to me and held the ball at his hip, “I make it you buy me lunch, I don’t I buy you lunch. Deal?”

I liked those odds, “Deal.”

He got back into his squat and ready himself to shoot. He jumped and the ball sprang in a perfect arc. I thought I might have lost when the ball hit the backboard too left of the hoop. The ball rolled to the opposite end of the court.

I jumped up, “Ha! Hope you’re not thinking of backing out now because I think I’m getting a big lunch today,” I said.

“Nah, a deal’s a deal,” he said. He walked to the other end to grab the ball as I got up to leave.

“Hey wait,” I spun around. Emmett was at the other end of the court underneath the other hoop with the ball, “I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t feeling hungry anyway.” He went to shoot again and this time made it into the hoop at the other end of the court. I stood there slack-jawed, Emmett only laughed and then headed for the men's room. A bell rang. _Shit_. I ran out and hurried into my day clothes and ran off to my first class.

The morning was fairly menial: I went to class, sat there, and “listened” as they went through the syllabus, then talked to a few people after class. The conversations were nothing interesting just about how I’m doing and what I thought of Forks and what Chicago was like. Rinse and repeat. Nothing seemed like it was going to be much of a challenge since I had to repeat a few classes because Forks didn’t have the next course. The only one I was really worried about was English. I hate writing essays and reading books, it’s too boring and I always get distracted. At least with Government and Biology, I can get by via listening in class . . . and google.

After third period, a girl practically glided up to my desk. She had her brown hair in a pixie cut, which was what she kind of reminded me of, and was a few inches shorter than me. She was dressed fairly nice; she wore a burgundy long sleeve shirt, tight black jeans, and calf-high boots. She got closer and then I saw her eyes: coal-black, like Emmetts. It was such an unusual color that I was surprised that anyone else could have them. Maybe they were related.

She leaned over my desk and stuck her hand out in front of my face. I had to bend my elbow awkwardly to shake her hand but she seemed to not notice, “I’m Alice Cullen,” she stated as though it was the most important thing I needed to know.

“Oh . . . Hello, I’m-”

“Edythe Masen. I know.” She continued to smile at me, it almost seemed fake.

I stood up and backed away from her, but she kept my hand in a death grip, “How did you know my name?”

Her eyes seemed panicked for a second, then she smoothed her emotions, seeming to come up with a lie, “My sister told me about you. And I wanted to say hi.”

“Oh, okay? Hi.” I wrenched my hand back and walked towards the exit, she pursued me. 

“Do you need help finding your next class?” she asked as she less so walked and more so skipped next to me.

“No, I can find it. Thank you,” I said.

She hummed her response, “How are you liking Forks so far?”

“It’s fine, nothing to complain about,” Alice nodded then her face turned serious. She gripped my arm and stopped me from moving, “Um, Alice?” She wouldn’t respond. Her face was blank and her eyes stayed unblinking for a few minutes. I was going to shake her but then she shook her head and turned to me, this time her smile seemed a bit more genuine. “Are you okay?”

“Yep!,” She chirped, “I think I should be leaving but it was great meeting you, Edythe. I think we’re going to be great friends,” She spun around and skipped down the other corridor.

Spanish went by without a hitch. I met another girl, Jessica, and we headed off to lunch. We were talking about a movie she wanted to see, _Jennifer’s Body,_ and she seemed to want me to go with her. It was nice to talk about something other than myself for a bit. Jessica didn't even ask me any of the normal questions, just my name and then she started talking about a program she saw on TV last night. Down the corridor, I saw Emmett and a blonde girl arguing, or more like she was trying to argue and he was trying to dodge her accusations. Emmett spotted me and walked over dragging the girl by her hand.

“Hey, Edythe. How are classes goin’ so far?” Emmett was standing relaxed but the blonde girl was as stiff as a board. Her arms were crossed and her eyes, black as well oddly, racked over me then she was staring off to the side. Jessica just gave me confused looks.

“Good, I suppose.” 

The blonde girl turned to Emmett, “We should get going soon. The other will be expecting us.”

“Huh, Rosalie,” he glanced over at Rosalie then made an Oh face, “Yeah we need to get going. I’m glad you havin’ a good day and here,” he handed me a twenty-dollar bill, “I hope a twenty can cover lunch. See ya.”

Rosalie jerked Emmett with a bit more strength than I thought she would be able to and dragged him down the corridor.

Jessica stared at the twenty, "What's that about?"

I continued to the cafeteria with Jessica again, "We had a bet and he lost."

The answer didn't seem to give Jessica the clarification she was looking for. “I mean I can’t believe they talked to you in the first place,” Jessica said. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The Cullens and the Hales never talk to anyone. Well except each other,” Jessica snarked. We started through the line and Jessica frowned when she saw that there was only pizza left as an entree option, “It’s kinda creepy actually.”

I grab a slice and a can of coke, “What’s creepy?”

“That they don’t talk to anyone. You know there's rumors that they're all a part of a ‘coven’.” We paid for our food and went to an overly filled table. Jessica tapped a guy on his shoulder and jerked her head. He got up and went to hover over some guys playing a GameBoy. Jessica unceremoniously dropped her plastic tray and sat facing the rest of the cafeteria. 

“You mean like witches?” I sat next to her, “Are you serious?”

“I’m just quoting what Mike said,” She gave a pointed look at the guy that just moved, “Besides what the harm?”

“Maybe,” I said as I took a sip of Coke hiding my smile, “If you didn’t spread rumors they would actually talk to you.”

Lunch went by quickly. I joked with a few of the guys and Jessica and Angela were talking about the three of us doing something that weekend, a “welcome gift” of sorts. After lunch was finished I talked Angela about Star Trek (she's a huge fan apparently) on our way to Biology. Inside there were nameplates on the desk, mine was in the front next to some guy named Jasper. _Weird name._

I sat at the blacktop table and waited for the rest of the class to trickle in. Eventually, a boy came up to my table, but once he looked at me he stiffened. His honey blonde hair fell in waves around his face and his black eyes were wide, his seemed to look less beautiful and more like an animal’s. He looked like someone that could be charming if he wasn’t staring you down like you were a ghost. Slowly he sat at our table and he shook slightly, his fists were clenched his nails digging into his palms. I could visibly see the muscles in his arm and hand tense, his veins popping out of his skin. 

Mr. Banner came in and began the lecture, but I could barely focus on him while Jasper was having some sort of breakdown. The shaking got worse and he tried to indiscreetly scoot the chair as far away as possible. It didn’t work well. I shifted over to the right to give him space, but it didn't help much. His muscles tensed even worse as time went on and he would occasionally look over at me and turn his head just as quickly. He looked in serious pain.

The bell rang after a while and he shot up like a lightning bolt and ran out of class fast, almost inhumanly fast. In the process, he knocked over three students. That was strange. I’ve never had anyone react to me like that, but I wasn't going to let it bother me. I was sure that there was some sort of explanation, he might have been sick.

Mike walked up to my table and hopped up on it, “What was his problem? Did you stab him with a pencil or something?”

“No, I don't know what's his issue,” I sighed. I grabbed my bag from under the table and started to walk to the gymnasium, thankfully my last class.

“Hey wait,” Mike called after me. He ran up next to me and I’m, assuming, playfully bumped me. I pushed back causing him to stumble, though he didn't mind. 

"How are liking Forks?" 

"It's fine," great the questions again. I've heard them like a million times by then and given a million different answers. I sped my walking, Mike matched my pace. 

"So I heard you're from Chicago," he said. 

"Yea."

"What's that's like." 

"Annoying, there's a law mandating everyone to wear bulletproof vests, or else you get arrested."

"Really?"

"No," I deadpanned. 

He laughed hesitantly, "Have you ever been to Forks before?"

"Does it matter?"

He sighed, "I'm just trying to-"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl in hideous mid-thigh khaki shorts and a blue and green plaid shirt combo walk up. Which was a shame because she was gorgeous. Her straight light brown hair flew around her in an arch, like in a haircare commercial. And her face was perfectly shaped as though Da Vinci sculpted it himself; high cheek-bones, oval eyes, soft lips. All in the right place. Her smile was blindingly white with her teeth were all perfect aside eye-teeth being slightly long and sharp, though that didn't detract from her beauty. She carried herself like she was stronger than anyone around her despite being petite and short. Yet she had an attitude that didn’t quite match. Most would think she would be a prom queen or a model type, but she had a mischievous yet laid back tone. Skateboarder chick kind of. Her eyes were coal-black too, but hers were mesmerizing, like if space could have the light taken out of it but still sparkle. Like she was holding a galaxy right in her eyes. I felt like gravity had been turned off and I was floating in her eyes.

She clapped Mike on the shoulder, “Hey you're Mike, right?”

Mike jumped back a step, “Uh, yeah?”

“Jessica said she wanted to see you. She’s in Mr. Varner’s class.”

“Jessica? Why would she want to see me?” 

The girl nudged Mike to the east corridor, “I don’t know she just said she really, really needed you,” she shoved him a little more forcefully this time. Mike glanced down the corridor and headed off.

“Was she upset? Maybe I should go too,” I said. I was about to follow Mike when she giggled.

“Nah, I’ve never talked to Jessica before,” she said cooly, “I don’t even know if she’s in Mr. Varner’s class. It just looked like you needed some help.”

“Thanks,” I said. I was about to continue when the warning bell sounded off, “Oh well . . . See you around . . .,” I trailed off waiting for her name. Either she didn’t realize or she didn’t care, she gave a lazy two-fingered salute and walked down the west corridor. 

I continued to the gymnasium, luckily without Mike finding me again. Coach Clapp came into the gym after everyone settled down through a side door and blew his whistle. Half the students jumped and Coach Clapp chuckled, “Welcome to Health and Physical Education kids now before we go over safety precautions I need to take a tally of who’s here.”

“Lucy Andrews.”

“Here!” 

“Tyler Crowley.”

“Here.”

“Bella Cullen.”

No one answered.

“Bella Cullen.” He tried again. Again no one answered.

“Okay,” He made a mark on the paper, “Alisa Duncan.”

Class, once again, was monotonous. He just sat there and explained where everything was as though none of these kids knew where everything was by this point. Maybe he was doing it for my sake or maybe it was mandatory, but regardless it nearly bored me to death. It took every fiber in my being just to stay awake and the bell still woke me up. We were let out a quarter after three with Coach yelling out that we’d be dressing down the next day and starting on sprinting for two weeks.

I sat at the curb waiting for my mom to come and get me. A few people I ate lunch with offered rides, but I turned them down. I watched some of the students milling about, getting in their cars and leaving (bastards), and I heard some laughter coming from my left around the Chevy and the Jeep. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, and that girl with the galaxy eyes (who must have been Bella) were all leaning against the two cars and talking amongst themselves. They seemed to be having a good time. Jasper had Emmett in a chokehold both of them laughing, which I thought would be impossible, and the three girls were chatting. I think I caught a “Why do you torturer me like this'' from Alice. I think it was pointed at the girl. Regardless they seemed normal. Maybe they didn’t talk to other people at this school, but what did it matter when they already had each other.

_Beep_

My head snapped forward and my mom was sitting in her car, “Edythe come on I don’t have all day,” she yelled. I stood and shook myself off. I took one more look at the Cullens and Hales and got into the car and left.


	2. Open Book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone. I really appreciate you guys reading and supporting my work and I hope you are enjoying it thus far. I just wanted to say that if you have any issue with how a character is portrayed, wether that has to do with racism, homophobia, or sexism please let me know. I have no issue changing something if it is insensitive. Thank you and have a great day!

The next day was better . . . and worse.

It was better because not as many people stared at me or talked to me, only the ones that had anything interesting to say. It was better because I wasn’t as worried about navigating the school, better because we had done something interesting in class rather than read syllabi. Better because I knew a group of people and were somewhat comfortable with them. Socially everything was looking up. 

But, it was worse because I had to read out loud in English and stumbled over a few words, it was worse because the only car I found was an ‘87 Chevy Impala that cost a thousand dollars and when I went to pick it up it had completely broken down by the time I got home. And it was worse with all the talk of death . . .

It was a bright morning, the little clouds out were closer to white cotton balls than gray storm clouds and the sun was beating down full force shining through the curtains. I could feel the heat seeping in from outside. And then I promptly went back to sleep, I wasn’t in the mood to slather on sunblock, even if I probably didn’t need it. But my mom didn’t let that slide. At least this time she didn’t throw me off my bed.

“Edythe Elizabeth Masen if you’re not up and ready in ten you’ll be walking to school,” Mom had yelled up the stairs. She’d been running around crazily getting her forest ranger uniform together and about fell down the stairs from attempting to put her pants on as she was going down. I groaned and threw off my sheets. My hair was an absolute rats nest with half of it matted to the side of my face and the other sticking up in whatever direction it pleased. I decided that I was going to have to deal with it on the drive to school. I threw on whatever I grabbed first, a potent bar, and met my mom in the car. I feverishly started to brush out my hair.

Mom was tense as she sped down the road, kicking up gravel so bad I worried it was going to hurt the car. Hair somewhat tamed I ate my protein bar. “Is something going on? You look upset.” I asked through the chocolate covered oats.

Mom grimaced at me, “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” She breathed deep and let it go slowly, “There was a body found in the woods last night.”

“Oh,” my eyes widened. I never like the topic of death, it just freaks me out. Mostly because it reminded me of my own mortality, which frightens me. It reminds me that I’m not invisible and one false move could end me. 

“It was a teenage girl,” Mom continued, “she was found in a clearing, but we don’t know what happened,” she sighed, “We and the police are going to be searching the woods looking for more evidence today. ” 

“Hmm,” That also worried me. Mom having to do something dangerous and getting hurt. I mean what if it was a bear or something that killed her, then what. But it wasn’t my place to say something, I was here to listen, “Stay safe.”

“I will trust me,” She bit her lower lip which was always an indicator she was nervous. I reassuringly patted her arm, or at least I hoped it was reassuring. “Hey promise me that you won’t go into the woods alone, okay.” 

“I won’t, I promise,” I said. It did stop her worrying.

I was at school by five-twenty. Barely anyone was here, again, and the woods by the school seemed to ooze maliciousness today. I took a deep breath and decided to wait in the cafeteria for someone to show up. At least that way I would have lunch lady Malinda as company. An hour later Jessica and Angela walked in and decided that we should find somewhere to sit outside since it was so nice.

“Shouldn’t we find a table?” I asked. I blew lightly once I saw a ladybug had crawled up my hand and was resting on my wrist. 

“There are no tables to sit at outside,” Jessica stated like it was obvious, “Too rainy.”

“That’s stupid,” I said shifting on the ground trying to get comfortable despite the rocks and leaves under me. We were sitting in the middle of the sidewalk surrounded by trees that were shedding like cats. The trees to our left rustled from the cool wind blowing in. More helicopter seeds spun down from the sky like little propellers.

“Yeah, but it’s never this nice,” Angela stretched out on the ground in a star pose. She turned her head so she faced us, crushing her purple glasses into her face, “I wish it was sunny all the time.”

“You must love living here then,” I said. 

She smirked, “Absolutely,” she rolled her eyes and sat up taking a bite of a tater tot, “Honestly I can’t wait for graduation. I’m either moving to Nevada, California, or Arizona. Whichever one rains less.”

“California for me,” Jessica announced, taking a bite of french toast, “I need to to get into a school with a good sports program.” 

“Assuming you get on the team,” Angela nudged her and laughed. 

“What do you play?” I asked

Jessica perked up and leaned over her lap, “Volleyball mostly, but I also work on track. But it’s a bit hard to do that here. Outside anyways. I think I’m going to USC, maybe UC Los Angeles if I can’t get in. You know USC has a-”

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Tyler yelled out from his van that just drove up next to us. Eric meekly waved from the passenger seat as he got his stuff together. Tyler put the van in park and leaped out walking to our circle, with Eric slammed the door and joined us shortly. 

Tyler had his hands in his pockets and relaxed shoulder as he strolled up to us and plopped down like he just got back. Eric was less interested in our discussion, he glanced at us over the top of the book he was holding, sat down, and continued to read his book. Angela smiled at him, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Nothing much, just talking,” I said.

“Shouldn’t you move your car. Won’t it get towed?” Angela asked with more concern than she should have.

Tyler waved her off, “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll park it later”

Tyler attempted to sneak one of Jessica’s french toast sticks, but she caught him midway there and slapped his hand. “Don’t you have someone else to annoy,” Jessica asked, pissed. She didn’t seem eager to be interrupted nor have her food taken.

“Nope, you’re stuck with me,” Tyler slung his arm around Jessica pulling her into a hug.

“Lucky us,” 

Angela scooted closer to Eric, “Hey Eric what are you reading?” 

He responded with, “A book about murder.” 

Angela tilted her head to read the title, “ _Death by Moonlight: The True Accounts and Stories of the Port Angeles Serial Killer._ ”

“Well that sounds a bit morbid Eric,” I teased. Eric jostled and looked up from the book, actually paying attention. 

“Huh,” he looked at the cover then to me. He laughed embarrassedly, “Yeah, but it’s an interesting read actually.”

“I didn’t know you were into that stuff. Thought you hate horror,” Jessica said, reaching for the book and trying to read the synopsis. 

“It’s easier to read reports about horrible things that happened years ago than watch movies made to scare you, besides,” Eric snatched the book back, “Books can’t jump-scare you.”

“You’re not reading books from very good authors then,” Tyler interjected. I raised my eyebrows at him, he scoffed, “Yes Edythe, believe it or not, I read on occasion.”

Jessica snorted, then turned her attention back onto Eric, “I’m hooked, what’s it about?”

“Well,” Eric started, “Around nineteen-seventy-one, seventy-two there was a serial killer murdering girls between the ages of seventeen-to-twenty in Port Angeles and left their bodies in public locations. He even left the last body at the police chief’s doorstep. The police could find no video of him dumping the bodies even when there was a camera nearby.”

“How,” Tyler asked

“They don’t know the camera would show nothing there, then in a split second a body was there like someone just threw it on the ground.”

“Were they cameras tampered with,” Angela asked.

Eric shook his head, “There was no evidence of tampering, but it wasn’t ruled out. Actually, it was the most likely explanation, but that wasn’t the weirdest part.” Eric paused, “So the bodies when found were completely drained of blood, but the only cuts on their bodies were two small circular holes in their necks and bruising around it. At least at first”

“Later bodies had bruising in other places then cuts and broken bones, but those were never apparently said to be the cause of the death. It got so bad that some of the later bodies were unrecognizable. And all the victims had the same bruising, holes, and no blood. They were never able to identify the killer, not even a description of him was ever given.” 

Murder stories didn’t help my nerves any, I just tried to focus on anything that didn’t involve death, though that was hard when class was so boring. I originally tried occupying my thoughts with how I would deal with Alice and if she would start acting weird again, but she was missing from trig, and I didn’t see Emmett nor Rosalie at all. Likewise, Jasper and Bella were both missing. I thought that was especially strange, while it wasn’t too unusual for two or three siblings to be missing at once, five was suspicious.

 _What if one of the Cullen or Hale girls was the one found dead?_ I thought about it, it would explain why they were all missing, but I would have heard about it by now right ? The school would have said something. So maybe it wasn’t, but that didn’t stop a lump from forming in my throat and my mind to keep thinking of different, horrible scenarios of where they went .

After the final bell went off I quickly ran inside in a bid to get to the showers first. On my way, I checked my locker and saw I had a message. 

**Mom** \- 

_Hello sweetie, I need to stay late tonight, so can you get a ride home? Should be some leftovers from last night. Make sure Grandma takes her medication. Be home by 11 hopefully. XOX_

Okay, no shower then . . .

**Edythe to Mom**

_I got a ride, don’t overwork yourself. Stay safe. Love you._

_Well_ , I thought, _I guess I have to find someone with a car_. Then I remembered this morning.

**Edythe to Tyler**

_Hey, can I get a ride?_

“Well that's shitty,” Tyler stared out his windows intently, though I’m not sure how he could see through it with all the dust. When I asked if Tyler could give me a ride, while I was glad he said yes, I wasn’t expecting this. Currently, I was sandwiched between three teenage boys who all smelt like they hadn’t taken showers in days.

Nor wore deodorant.

Nor at least sprayed on Axe.

Mike and Eric apparently drove with Tyler too and from school because neither of them had cars, but Mike was “definitely working on it” as he tried to reassure me. I was sitting next to Tyler and Mike with Erik next to the passenger door. Eric seemed content on reading, while Mike seemed content on hitting on me. Luckily Tyler saved me by talking about my car.

“Hey if you need to you can hook the Impala to my van and I can drive it to a shop for you,” Tyler offered. It was a kind gesture on its own, but having to sit in the van, without a seatbelt, and almost hit my head every time Tyler went over a speed bump made the offer even more tempting. 

“Well,” my voice cracked when, this time, I smacked my head into the ceiling. I calm my voice, “If you have the time.” 

He waved me off, “Of course I have time Edythe, I have nothing to do this weekend.”

I hummed and looked out the left window as best I could, “Hey” I thought out loud, “I hadn’t seen the Cullen’s today. Did something happen?”

Tyler looked up from the road, “Oh, no, they just don’t come on sunny days.”

I gave him a quizzical look, “Why?”

“Because,” Mike’s voice whispered in my ear, “They are too busy drinking the blood of virgins,” I jerked my head sideways and saw Mike half-an-inch from my ear with a shit-eating grin. I shoved him as best I could, knocking him into Eric who let out a grunt. 

“Stop talking bullshit Newton,” Eric mumbled while readjusting himself.

“It’s not bullshit Yorkie,“ Mike said, “Besides I haven’t told Edythe yet.”

“Do I even want to hear it?” I asked.

Mike shifted to face me, “Yeah, Edythe. It’s like life and death.” 

I crossed my arms and leaned into Tyler as he sighed and dropped his shoulders, “Basically since their _adoptive_ parents are young and they supposedly act strange Mike thinks they’re up to something,” Tyler summarized.

“No,” Mike said, “The Cullen’s and the Hale’s all live out in the woods in some sort of glasshouse with Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen. But they're both real young; like twenty-two or twenty-three which is suspicious, because one, clearly that’s too young for Dr. Cullen to be, you know, an actual doctor and two, how would an adoption agency let them have so many kids.”

“And . . . Are you suggesting forgery or identity theft?”

“No,” Mike stated, “I’m suggesting,” he looked both ways before continuing as though the Cullens and Hales would jump out from the back at any second, “Lycanthropy.” Mike made some creepy noises to add to the effect. I rolled my eyes.

“Seriously,” my eyebrows nearly went to my hairline, “That's the best explanation you got.”

“Wait, I thought you said they were Devil worshippers?” Tyler turned to Mike.

“Yes, but not anymore. I’ve been thinking about it,” Mike started. I slipped in a ‘clearly not’ but he decided to ignore it, “Werewolves live for like a long time, right? So they’d stay young longer, and last night was a full moon and now they're not here. And, where do werewolves hide during full moons?” Mike waited for a response, but when no one answered he did, “The woods.” Mike said all this like this was a seal tight argument.

Eric snorted getting everyone's attention, “Or their parents take them on camping trips and they are out of town today. Besides, Mike, I overheard that they needed to go to Port Angeles last night. And they only are not here on sunny days, not days after full moons. So if you wanted to tie them to any mythical creature vampires would make more sense.”

Mike’s eyes widen, “Oh shit, he's right.” 

“He didn’t mean it,” I groaned but Mike continued with his conspiracy theories for the rest of the drive. 

I sat at the table Thursday night working on trig while Grandma sat across from me doing needlepoint. My mom had been caught up at work again, last time she didn’t make it back until three in the morning, so Grandma was worried for her. She didn’t like that she was late all the time then, “Maybe we can bring her supper, wouldn’t that be nice.”

I stopped my work, “What?”

“Bring your mother supper, since she hasn't eaten a proper meal in a while,” she got a bag out from under the sink counter, “Maybe you could surprise her with a quick visit.”

“Grandma, I would love to, but my car isn’t working,” 

She frowned and put the bag back into the cabinet and I went back to work. _I’m sure Mom was fine_ , I thought, _late nights were just a part of the job_. We sat in silence for a few more minutes when the phone on the counter buzzed. Grandma picked up the receiver and chatted with the person on the line, I tuned it out. I continued to work on the problems when Grandma tapped me on the shoulder, “Yes?”

She was smiling again, so it must have been good news. “Billy’s coming over with his son for supper,” she strolled over to the fridge and rummaged through it and pulled out three steaks, corn cobs, and onion, “So I’m going to need help cooking tonight.” She wheeled out into the back yard patio. 

Billy Black was a friend of my grandfather before he passed away three years ago. They used to go fishing and hunting and whatever other activities two men their age did. I met his son, Jacob, and two daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, a hand-full of times, though we never got on well since they were at least two years older than me. I wonder how they’re all doing.

In the back, there was a rectangle cement block that had the grill on it and in the grass was a picnic bench next to a tree with a tire swing. For the next hour, we grilled steak, sautéed onions, and boiled corn. By the time I got everything plated there was a knock at the door.

“It’s unlocked,” Grandma called out. The door swung open and behind it was Billy, he was in a wheelchair now. I furrowed my eyebrows, I didn’t know that. His dark brown hair was hanging loose around his shoulders and he was hearing a worn-out black and red patterned sweater and jeans.

Jacob was behind him pushing inside. He was huge, possibly dwarfing Emmett in the height department, and he was a bit muscular as well. His long brown hair was tied back in a low ponytail that reached his upper back. He was a shade or two tanner than Billy was, probably from being outside more, and he had on a black t-shirt and green cargo pants and looked a lot older than I remembered.

Grandma rolled out from the kitchen and sat at the threshold, “Billy! Jacob! It’s so great to see the both of you.”

“I can take it from here Jacob,” Billy said, he wheeled into the kitchen leaving me and Jacob in the family room, “It’s nice to see you too Ed, how’s everything been.”

“Hey Edythe,” Jacob said. We stood awkwardly next to each other, it felt weird having to have my head tilted back just to see his face.

“Um, hey, ” I answered. I didn’t know exactly what to say so I made no more attempts at conversation.

“Come on kids, the steaks getting cold,” Billy called. Jacob swept his arm out encouraging me to go first. I stepped through the threshold where Grandma and Billy were having a lively conversation about football. I could never tell if Grandma actually liked the sport or if she just was that good an actress, it didn’t seem to matter to Billy though. I sat down, followed by Jacob scooting his chair up to the table. 

“So how’s Forks been?” Jacob asked.

“Good,” I said, I wasn’t sure why I was being so quiet with him. Jacob nodded in response and joined the conversation with Billy and Grandma. I would interject once in a while, but mostly I stayed quiet. 

“How’s Elizabeth doing?” Billy asked.

“Oh not so well, she’s been spending a lot of time at the station recently. Rarely is home by seven since this week started.”

“There was a dead body found east in the woods near town,” I explained.

Billy's smile flattened, “That’s a shame, have they found out who they were?”

I shook my head, “Not that Mom has told me.” Billy sighed and went back to eating.

“I was hoping to bring her some actual supper,” Grandma said, “But Edythe’s car isn’t starting.”

“You got a car?” Jacob asked I think this was the first time he was interested in anything involving me.

“Yeah, I need to get it to a mechanic soon,” I said pushing around the last bit of steak on my plate. It was already Thursday and I forgot I needed to get it checked out. Fuck.

Billy smiled and patted Jacob on the back, “Well it's a good thing that the best mechanic in north Washington is sitting right here. Why don’t you check it out for her.”

“You fix cars?” I asked.

Jacob blushed and shifted in his seat, “Well it’s more of a passion than a profession.”

“He’ll look at it,” Billy assured me. 

“So this is the junker, huh?” Jacob kicked the left front tire with his boot. The tire indented on impact. I didn’t think that was a good sign, “Well you're definitely going to need to get new tires. So did you hear any weird noises when starting up the car?”

“I think I heard something like clicking,” Jacob hummed, “Do you know what it is?”

“It might be the starter,” He unhatched the hood and opened the driver side door, “Get in and try to start the engine.” I got in and shoved the key into the ignition. Turning it produced a horrible _Click Click Click_ sound and a plume of dark gray smoke rose straight into Jacob's face, making him hack violently, “Yep broken starter,” He coughed a few more times.

“Can you fix it?” I asked as I took the key out. The noise stopped and the rest of the smoke rose into the sky dissipating. Jacob laid against the garage wall trying to calm the coughing, “And do you want some water?"

“Yes to both,” He gasped out. I grabbed out a Pepsi and two water bottles from the fridge in the back of the garage and handed him the bottle, “Thanks.” He gulped the first bottle down in five seconds flat and tossed it to the recycling.

“No problem,” I sipped my Pepsi, “How much is it going to cost?”

“Between four-hundred to six-hundred for the starter, depending on how much the new starter is. And another five for the tires. I can look at it this weekend.” He opened the second bottle and started to chug.

“Sounds good. Thanks,” I said. Jacob flashed me a dazzling smile.

“No problem.”

For the first time in a long time, I was excited for the weekend. I had plans that involved me hanging out instead of “working on socializing with my future peers” or however Father would phrase talking with the kids of his co-workers. Jessica, Angela, and I had discussing plans for my welcome party for Saturday night. Angela suggested that we have a sleepover at her house. She had the videography of Hugh Grant from all the movies she “forgot to return” to the video store. We agreed on a rom-com-athon of sorts. Jessica was on drinks and I was on food.

The Cullen’s and Hales were also back from their three-day hiatus on Friday. When I asked Emmett where they went, he said that there was a family member's wedding up in Port Angeles that they went to. When I mentioned Mike’s theory about lycanthropy he cringed.

“Like I would be a werewolf, they smell funky and,” he made a shot, “I’m sure they would make terrible company.”

“I’m not too sure, Mr. Teen Wolf,” I teased.

“Excuse you my natural talent at basketball has nothing to do with werewolf powers,” he answered grinning. 

During Health and Physical Education Coach Clapp was explaining what we would be doing in class, dodgeball as a treat, when the door flew open with Mr. Mason holding Bella by her elbow. Bella kept glaring at Mr. Mason, the phrase ‘if looks could kill’ came to mind.

“Ah, Miss Cullen. I see you decided to join us today,” Coach Clapp looked elated to finally see Bella, “We will be discussing punishment after class. Thank you, Mr. Mason.”

“Anytime,” he answered, letting go of Bella and walking back out the door.

“Please have a seat, Miss Cullen,” Bella sneered at Coach Clapp and dragged herself to the closest seat next to me.

“Got caught, huh?” 

“Surprisingly yes,” Bella crossed her arms and leaned back, “ Do you think if I made a run for it I could get out before we start?”

“Not without getting your ass kicked later,” I said.

“Damn,” Bella scowled as she stared out the door, probably trying to hatch an escape plan.

“Get your butts up and get on the court,” bellowed Coach Clapp, “And I want to see everyone,” he gave Bella a pointed look, “Participating today, now go.”

The gymnasium was split into two different “courts” by blue painters tape with soft multi-colored balls lining the middles of each court. Coach counted off four teams, five students on each team with team one-vs-team three and team two-v-team four then rotating after two games. I was put on team one and Bella on two.

The rest of the class got into position as Bella miserable slugged over to her position in the back next to me on the other court. I couldn’t tell what her issue was, even if you didn’t like exercise dodgeball wasn’t that bad. Well, that was my opinion until I saw her play. Coach blew the whistle and a ball was thrown at Bella, which she dodged just to fall on her ass a second later. I giggled at her and she stuck her middle finger at me. It only made me laugh harder.

“Edythe, get your head in the game,” one of the boys yelled. I rolled my eyes and started to play.

Surprisingly I was fairly good at dodgeball. I caught half the balls that flew at me and landed most of the shots I threw. And never once did I get out. Being the goalie on the soccer team must have help, even if the objectives were the opposite. I couldn’t count the number of times I heard “Cullen your out” followed by a disgruntled Bella going to the bleachers. I was kind of charming in a way. 

The last pair of games were team one-vs-team two and team three-vs-team four. I lined up facing Bella giving her the best smirk I had. She huffed and stuck out her tongue. The whistle blew once more and we were off. Like usual Bella was out within the first two minutes being exiled to the bleacher. I, once again, caught several balls and led the team to victory. Then we reset and played a second time. When the whistle blew Alisa grabbed a ball and shot it straight at Bella, but instead of getting hit or falling, she caught it. I stood there dumbfounded for a second and then as if she wanted revenge, she launched the ball at me and it hit me right in the chest. Hard. With how scrawny she looked I wasn’t expecting it to hurt that bad. 

“Duncan, Masen out,” Coach yelled, “Nice job Cullen.”

Bella and everyone else was just as confused as I was. Team two cheered for a few seconds congratulating Bella. I gave her a thumbs up and parked myself on the lowest bleacher away from everyone else who was talking. A minute later, in Bella fashion, she was out. 

“Cullen out.”

“Nice seeing you here Miss Masen,” Bella greeted as she took a seat by me.

“Likewise Miss Cullen,” I answered, “Since when can you catch and throw a ball?”

She shrugged, “I have no fucking clue. I’ve never done anything like that before” she tipped her head back.

“Not very coordinated are we?”

She took a glance at my grinning face, “Piss off,” she lightly shoved my shoulder as though she was worried I might get hurt, “I didn’t throw it too hard did I?”

“Nothing that I can’t take,” I said hitting myself on the chest and trying not to wince.

Bella hummed, “You seemed to be enjoying yourself here.” 

“I am, I think this has been the most fun week I’ve had in a while,” I said. I realized I probably shouldn’t have when Bella raised her eyebrows and shifted towards me.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just . . .,” God I’m stupid, “My father has high expectations of me that I don’t always live up to. I just wanted a break from it.”

“So you came to Forks?” she inquired.

“Yeah,” I trailed off, “So how was the wedding?”

“Wedding?” her eyes furrowed.

“Emmett said your family went to a wedding . . . in Port Angeles. That’s why you were gone for three days,” I explained. Emmett did say they went to a wedding right?

She looked panicked for a second, she started to pick at her nails, “Oh yea, the wedding. It was nice,” _liar_ , “It’s been a long week, I almost forgot.”

“I thought Emmett said that you guys just got back from it,” I pushed. Panic morphed to rage. Emmett’s ass may be getting kicked because of me, but I wanted to know what was going on.

“Oh well, I had to leave early for an emergency,” The bell sounded. Bella treated it like a saving grace, “I need to go now. See you later Edythe.” Bella picked up her bag and left the gymnasium without changing. I watched her until the side entrance door shut behind her knocking me back into reality. 

I changed and went outside to wait for Tyler, for the last time _thank god_ , I was viewing the parking lot trying to find that monster of a van and saw that the Chevy truck was missing. The four Cullens and Hales crammed themselves into the Jeep, but not before they all gave me looks.


	3. Phenomenon

When I opened my eyes in the morning something was different.   


There was a honking noise. I stood up, went to the window, and pushed aside the pink lace curtains. Outside I was met by a way too cheerful Tyler for seven-thirty in the morning waving at me from the drive-way. He wore a light red and yellow striped scarf and a grey coat that was too big for him. I could see his breaths condense for a second before disappearing. It must be cold then.  


I threw on a green cardigan over my nightshirt and climbed down the stairs. The house was quiet aside from the creaking floorboards. Mom would already be at work and I believed Grandma went to that new physical therapist. She was excited last night, convinced that this was going to work, though I wasn’t too sure. Last I heard the old doctor, the one before Cullen, thought that the nerve was dead. Regardless she wouldn’t be back until late, neither of them. Maybe I could hang out with Jacob until I needed to go to Angela’s, hopefully, he’d be fine with that.   


Before I was even at the front door I heard a patterned knock, “Wrong passcode,” I shouted as I slipped on slippers.  


“C’mon Edythe, open up. I’m literally freezing my balls off,” he pleaded.   


I unlocked the door and cracked it open, “I need to get dressed quick. You can eat whatever from the fridge,” I started to climb up the stairs, the door slammed shut behind me.  


“Might wanna wear something warm. It’s fucking fridge.”  


“I figured from the “about to freeze my balls off” part,” I said and rushed up the stairs.  
  


  
Tyler wasn’t kidding when he said it was freezing. Even in jeans, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and boots I was still shivering. I took my hair out of a bun and covered my ears as impromptu ear muffs. Tyler cranked the heater up but we were halfway to the reservation before it started to warm.   


“So who’s the mechanic, I didn’t think there was one out in La Push,” Tyler asked. We hit a pothole and I heard the Impala make a sickening sound as it bumped down the highway.   


“Careful please my car doesn’t need to be any more fucked up,” I shoved him lightly. He gave a dismissive grunt and shoved me right back into the door, “His name’s Jacob. He’s once my grandmother’s friend's son.”  


“Huh,” Tyler furrowed his brow, “Do you think it’s going to be done today, or should I come to pick you up?”  


“I think it’ll be done by today, and even if it’s not I can get someone else to get me,” I said staring out the side window. There was a light hum of music in the air and I was subconsciously nodding my head to it, though I never pictured Tyler to be a rap fan much less LL Cool J fan. Tyler was drumming his fingers to the beat against the steering wheel and I could tell he wanted to sing (or rap I suppose) his heart out, though I’m sure I made him a bit apprehensive. I turned up the radio.  


“Bamboo earrings, at least two pairs. A Fendi bag, and a bad attitude.” I started to sing, in the middle I flashed an encouraging smile to Tyler.   


He snorted and went on, “That’s all I need to get me in a good mood”  


“She can walk with a switch, and talk with street slang,” we continued in unison.   


We sang until we reached Jocab’s house. The garage door opened up with Jacob on the other side in a white t-shirt and jean shorts. Jacob walked up to the driver's side door and pointed down, Tyler stepped on the breaks and rolled down the window and stuck out his hand, “Hey, Jacob?”  


Jacob gave a curt handshake before stuffing his hands into his pockets, “Yep, you mind if I take the wheel? I don’t think my other client would like her truck scratched up.”  


“ ‘Course not.” Tyler put the van in park and hopped out, Jacob took his seat. He put the car in reverse and slowly backed up into the garage. The car barely fit into the garage next to the truck, but there was enough room to get around it. Jacob slammed the door and unhooked the van from the car, “Should be good to go then.”   


Tyler nodded, “Well I’m heading back, see ya later.”  


“Bye,” I waved, “ And thank you Tyler.” He gave a wave and drove down the gravel road. I got out and watched Tyler drive down the road, disappearing beyond the hill. Jacob walked towards the garage when I asked, “Hey, what's up with your clothes?”   


“Huh?” Jacob looked down at his shirt like he didn’t realize it was too cold to wear it, “Oh, the garage has a space heater. Makes the place feel like a sauna, so you might want to take your jacket off,” he said. I hummed and stripped off the jacket, throwing it on top of the trunk of my car. I could slightly feel the warm air emanating from the garage, but it didn’t really hit me until I crossed the threshold. Jacob following behind me reached and yanked the garage close about halfway. Jacob at my side cracked his knuckles as he walked to a short red leather bar stool in the back of the room next to the truck.   


“Are you still working on their truck? I can wait,” I said sliding up next to Jacob. He passed by me dragging the barstool over to my car, popped the hood, and dropped a rusted box next to it, “I’ve already fixed it, the Thing runs like a beauty. I’m just waiting for the girl to come get it.”  
I took a look inside the hood, the engine, and whatever else was there looked complicated and old. I was never very good at shop class or cars or machines in general. It was all too damn confusing, yet when I looked over to Jacob he held his socket wrench (I think) like it was an extension of his arm, like this was the most natural place for him to be, “How are you even able to fix this stuff?”  


“Years and years of practice,” he answered, “And a few broken cars,”   


“Worse than when they came in?”  


“Way worse,” he chuckled, “First car I worked on when I was eleven, Dad turned away for a second and I almost blew up the damn thing.”  


“Shit,” I said, “You guys were okay, right?”  


He snorted, “I’m standing here ain’t I?”  


“Not what I meant smartass,” I stepped away from the car and perched myself on a desk catty-corner to Jacob, “You’re not gonna do that to my car are you?”  


“Hope not,” Jacob smiled.   


He continued to work on the car as we listened to current rock hits on the radio, Jacob was humming along as he worked and I watched in befuddled amazement as he took apart the car and started to put in the new starter. We made light conversation as time ticked by, he talked about college life, professors he did like and one that annoyed him. I commented a little on the teachers at Forks High. He talked about his major, mechanical engineering, and he discussed classes. I found myself smiling quite a bit despite my normal mood, Jacob just had such a friendly and carefree way of being that it was hard not to get caught up in it.  


“Oh yeah,” Jacob said, remembering something, “Seth’s coming over later, by the way, his brakes acting up. So I might have to check them out right when he gets here”   


“Hmm,” I hummed then looked up, “Acting up ho-”  


A knock interrupted my question. It came from the garage door, outside I could see a pair of brown boots that were rugged and worn. A girl's voice that sounded all too familiar came from the other side, “Hey Jake you in there?”   


“Hey, come on in,” Jacob called out. A pale hand reached under the garage door and hauled it up to reveal Bella Cullen on the other side. She looked at me with skepticism, but not shock. Like she knew I was here but not sure why, “This is Edythe by the way,” Jacob pointed at me.  


“We already met,” She spoke clearly, “Have you got the Thing fixed?” She asked Jacob though she kept her unblinking eyes on me. I stared back waiting for her to break our silent staring match. There was something off about her, her whole self seemed weird and different. Like her stance, or maybe something with her face. She huffed, amused I’m sure, and broke first and did a small jump to get on top of her car hood.  


“Yeah, runs real smooth now. Hopefully Rose won’t throw you out,” Jacob said now about halfway into my car.  


“I’m sure if she actually wants me out, she’ll have no problem finding another reason,” Bella answered. I raised an eyebrow and Bella laughed while trying to cover it, “Rosalie said that if I didn’t get the car fix she would throw me and all must stuff out ‘cuz she isn’t gonna live with a “car abuser” I think is how she phrased it. Don’t worry though, we're fine.”  


Jacob pulled himself out of my car, his face and arm covered in black soot, “She didn’t seem like she was kidding when she drove down here with you, but I will say she was right about the muffler. That thing was ancient,” Jacob grabbed a towel from the box and rubbed his face, but it only smudged it worse, “You never said she was into cars.”  


“She works on cars sometimes, I guess when she’s bored and has the right stuff for it,” Bella said as she laid back on her hood. She didn’t attempt to make any further conversation. She just sat there looking intently at something in the ceiling I couldn’t quite see at my angle. She was still, extremely still. The only moment she made was humming to a song that was playing. I looked down at the stereo that was now playing some sort of seventies disco tracks, I blanched. I normally okay with most music but I draw a hard line at anything seventies, especially disco. I turned the dial to something more palatable and Bella sprung up and glared me down, “Hey, that was totally a groovy track, why’d you turn it off?” Bella contested.  


Jacob and I both whipped our heads towards her. It looked like she just realized what she said: Bella's eyes widened like she was in a Margaret Keane picture. We both went into a hysterical laughing fit and Bella grumbled at us, “Would you two mind shutting up.”   


I turned the dial back and giggled, “Sorry dancing queen didn’t mean to upset you.” She flipped me off, but I continued to smile.   


Bella rolled her eyes then the rest of her body off the hood and walked next to Jacob checking out my car. She leaned on him as he was working on the car. Their closens kind of surprised me for some reason, perhaps because I thought she only talked to her siblings, “So how did you two meet anyway?”   


“A year ago when I sold her the Chevy,” Jacob called out.  


“Really, I’m surprised you didn’t just buy a new model,” I said, which might have been stupid considering who bought it. She seemed into that retro stuff.  


Bella huffed, “It’s a good car, thank you. Besides, it has personality.”  


“The personality of an old man maybe,” I teased. Bella didn’t take it though. She looked pretty pissed at that remark. So no joking about the truck I wrote a mental note.  


“Honestly,” Jacob said chuckling, “It’s old, like nineteen-fifty-six old.”  


“Where did you find a car like that?” I asked. The model seemed out of date, and I’m sure lots of car enthusiasts would snatch it up, though I guess I wouldn’t know.  


Jacob pulled himself out of the car and rummaged for another tool, “It was Dad’s. He got it from a friend’s dad, Charles or something, in the seventies.” Bella twitched oddly at that statement, Jacob didn’t seem to notice, “Actually it’s kinda sad what happened to her. She disappeared I think. Dad doesn’t like talking about it.”  


I pulled my lips into a thin line, “Were they close?”  


“I don’t think so,” Jacob answered, “He said she just moved in when it happened, Charles was a wreck though.”   


Jacob went back into the car. Bella walked over to a box that had an assortment of keys, she started to dig through. A minute or so later Jacob tinkering a small cloud of smoke hit him in the face. He started to hack, coughing up mucus. I swear to God this car is trying to kill him. Bella looked back, “Jake you okay?”  


Jacob stood up still coughing, “Yeah-,” cough, “I just need a-” cough, “Drink, you two need anything.”  


“No,” Bella said, “I should get going thanks for fixing the muffler.”  


Jacob waved her off and left the garage still coughing. Bella continued to search through the box frantically. I got off the desk and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked back, “Yes?”  


It was then looking into her eyes up close that I noticed something peculiar that I hadn’t picked up last time I saw her, light brown, hazel, and gold. Her eyes were shot with all three, though I could have sworn they were black when we first met.   


“What’s wrong with your eyes?” I asked, possibly a bit rudely.

“Nothing,” She said, seeming to know what I was referring to, “It must just be the fluorescents, they can change eye colors.” The moment that left Bella's mouth we both saw how stupid of a lie that was. She started to walk past my car, with me following her.

“Bella why are you acting like this. Seriously this is weird.”  


“Edythe,” she practically hissed. She looked back at me and her eyes soften, “I . . . Just stay away for now, please.”  


“Why?”  


“You wouldn’t understand,” she was distraught, I think she wanted to tell me but didn’t know how to say it, “I don’t care what Alice said, you’re not-” she stopped herself and growled, at herself no doubt.  


“Alice?” I questioned, I grabbed her by her arm and tugged, but she didn’t move, “What did she say. And why does that matter to the situation now?”  


Bella took a deep breath and looked around the garage. I think something broke, her eyes were staring at me with so much emotion that it was hard to figure all of all them out. She sighed and opened her mouth.  


Then I saw a black car barreling at us.   


It happened so fast that I could barely understand it all; a kid, Seth probably, was yelling for us to get out of the way from the car, Bella dropped her keys, and instead of jumping shoved me aside and braced herself. For a split second, I thought that Bella was going to get crushed, that I was about to see her die, and that this would be the last time I saw her, the last thing I said being a stupid pushy question. But like a fucking superhero she was calm and focus and grabbed the car by back and halted it. Literally stopped it. She then threw herself to the floor opposite me.   


Seth got out of the car screaming, followed by Jacob running, and Billy rolling out as fast as he could. They crowded us asking question after question; Are we okay? What happened? Were we hurt? Should we call an ambulance?   


I stayed silent nodding or shaking my head at the slue of questions, I didn’t trust myself to speak at the moment. Bella on the other hand was emotionless except for a brief flash of panic when she saw me staring at her in confusion from what she had done.   


Unfazed she got up, assured them that she was fine, and left. 


	4. Invitations

In my dream, it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Bella’s skin. 

Her hollow black eyes bore into me, little emotion showing in her face. Her head was tilted slightly sideways and her body was limp, like a doll that was being held up by a stand. In the dream, I walked up to her, carefully, while dream me saw nothing wrong with her there was a malicious tension lurking. A buzz sound filled my head, or maybe it was more accurate to say it was a lack of sound. Now standing in front of her, she looked as though she was made of marble, easily breakable. Long thin red lines reminiscent of blood twisted around her body as though she was cracked. I reached out and touched her forearm. 

Her other hand latched onto my outreached wrist and pulled me forward into her. I stared into her eyes, into the nothingness. Then it started expanding my entire vision/ It was as though I was enveloped into an inky black abyss. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or not. So then I tried and… 

Jessica was staring down at me.

I screeched, jumped up, and scooted as far as I could get from her, clutching the blanket to my chest, “What the hell are you doing in my room?” I screamed in her face.

She was lying on the bed laughing, “I came to get you, we need to get stuff for the party.”

“A. why did you think that breaking into my room was the best way to do that, B. what party and C. get the fuck out,” I shoved her off my bed.

She bounced up, “Well A. your mom let me in and told me to get you up, B. the party with me and Angela, and C. fine but you better be ready in twenty. I thought when you canceled last night you’d at least be packed and ready now,” Jessica slid to my door and hung on it, “Oh, and wear something cute. I don’t want to be seen with someone that can’t dress well,” She shut the door behind her. 

I sighed and threw off the covers. I thought that I could just show up at Angela's later and just relax, but I guess that was naive of me. I shifted through the draws pulling out a yellow and white sunflower top that showed my shoulders and a knee-length skirt. I stuffed some clothes in a grey duffle bag and my purse throwing in any other essentials that a day with Jessica might entail. 

Right before leaving I glanced over to my computer and I noticed an email was waiting for me. The email name read ‘E.Masen@gmail.com’ with the topic as 'I heard what happened yesterday'. I ignored it. 

As I walked down the stairs Jessica was waiting halfway and pulled me down the rest of the way and out the door. I was barely able to get a “bye mom” out before we were in her car. It was a white Lincoln that was somehow too clean, aside for my bag and cardboard box, and the air was stale. 

“Belt up, we’re going on a drive.” She said as she turned on the cd player. A song in German blared at us and she revved up the engine and gunned it down the road.

I pushed myself into the seat as far as I could as Jessica picked up speed, but she was nonchalant about going over sixty, “Wait w-”

“It’s Rammstein,” she answered curtly, “I can change it.”

“I don’t care about the music. Where are we going?” I asked.

“Ohhh. Oil City,” she shouted over the radio, “South of here.”

“Why?”

Jessica turned down a road onto a highway, “To get some drinks, duh. I can’t use my mom’s card up here ‘cos everyone knows me.”

I didn’t have an issue with alcohol, far from it, but I did have an issue with being arrested for impersonation and underage drinking. I shook my head, shifting in my seat, “Like you look forty.” 

“Thank you,” she flashed me a smile, “But in Oil City, they don’t really care, I just put on a coat and sunglasses and I get all the booze I can afford.”

“And Angela’s okay with this?” I asked, it was my last objection before I accepted that Jessica was going to do what she wanted and that I was going to need a plan for when she got caught. 

“Yeah, why do you think she put me on drinks?” Jessica turned up the stereo, apparently tired of me trying to talk sense into her and scream sang the rest of the ride.

It took us thirty minutes to get to Oil City and another ten for Jessica to get ready in her “mom” outfit. When she came out of the toilet at the gas station she looked more like two kids in a trench coat than an actual adult. She had bright red lipstick, a boxy green and black striped coat, and gaudy sunglasses. 

“Tada!” She spun in a circle and looked at me like she wanted me to applause as though she wasn’t super suspicious. I folded my arms, shifted my stance, and raised an eyebrow, “Come on Edythe, it’s not that bad.”

“Jessica there is no way in hell this is going to work.”

“How the hell did that work?” 

Jessica and I were back in the car northbound for Forks with arms full of alcohol in the back seat clinking against each other. Jessica had a smug smile on her face since we left the damn liquor store. I think she’s enjoying proving me wrong.

“It’s all in the attitude E. If you act the part no one cares, especially in a backwater place like Oil City,” Jessica was examining her manicure, “Besides what’s the fun in life if you don’t break the rules?”

“Rules are meant to be broken, type then?” I asked

“No, they’re meant to keep us,” she pointed at the both of us, “From having fun, so I ignore them. I mean it’s not like we're gonna get hurt, I’m not stupid.”

I stared at her for a second, opened my mouth, then decided just to listen to the music

By the time we gathered the rest of our groceries for the party, it was around seven-thirty and Angela just texted that she was ready for us to be over. Jessica booked it to her house. Angela’s house was a standard for Forks; peeling paint, old wood, overgrown trees, and bushes. Outside on a swing chair was Angela presumably waiting for us. When she saw Jessica’s car she sped walked to the driveway.

“Took you two long enough,” she said when we pulled up, “I was getting worried that you weren’t going to show.” She started to pull out plastic bags from the bag. I helped her with the other half while Jessica entered carrying the bag of alcohol into the house. I followed Angela inside taking a cursory look around the living room. There were a few mismatched chairs around the room and a T.V. surrounded by rows of DVDs. Soft pop music floated in from the kitchen where Jessica was making a fool of herself dancing. Family pictures hung around the room a few from what looked like Forks and a couple somewhere else. There was one with an older woman and Angela taken by some docks. 

Angela caught my stare and promoted, “That’s my lola or grandmother.”

I nodded and looked back at the picture, “She’s not from around here?”

“Philippines”, she answered, setting the groceries on the tiled kitchen counter. Jessica took no time in grabbing a mango daiquiri and unscrewed it, “She’s my mother's mother and we visit her and my lolo. We just got back before this term started. ”

Jessica paused her sip in favor of a bag of popcorn that she tossed into the microwave, “They still doing good by the way?” She turned to us. 

Angela looked up, “Yeah she’s doing good, both of them are. It’s tough sometimes because I can’t see them much. I really miss her already.” Me and Jessica hum and turn back to getting the drinks and food ready.

The microwave buzzed once Jessica’s popcorn was finished and she threw it into her bowl on the counter. She took a courtesy glance at the counter, nodded, took a swig of the daiquiri, and slammed it onto the counter with the force that nearly split it, “Now to the business of homec- ”

“No, you talked my ear off last night, Jess,” Angela laid her elbows on the counter, her hands smashed the glasses into her face as she stuck out her lower lip, “We were going to watch movies tonight.”

Jessica waved her off dismissively, “Yes, yes, I know, but… I need to show you two my ideas.”

Jessica bounced out of the room shortly followed by a door slamming. Angela sighed reaching for a Cheeto and ate it in the most depressed manner that I think I've ever seen. She then drained the rest of Jessica’s daiquiri in one drink. I glanced over and was going to ask where this was going, but Angela wasn’t next to me and another daiquiri was missing. The opening to Bridget Jones Diary started and then the door slammed open again. 

Jessica carried in a crumpled up moving box filled to the brim with multi-colored pink, purple, and blue fliers with ‘Vote 4 Jessica for homecoming queen’ printed on each in bubble letters, several brightly colored fashion magazines, and what looked like a make-up kit spilling over. She flashed a smile as she shoved it onto the coffee table nearly knocking off the daiquiri bottle with Angela saving it at the last second.

“I see you got to the FedEx,” Angela shifted her attention to the fliers and then back to me, “You missed an exhilarating night coming up with slogans for Jess’s homecoming queen ads.” Jessica huffed at her and fell next to her on the couch while fingering through a magazine. 

“You never know what bitch might try to snatch the crown from you, so you always have to be vigilant and prepared,” Jessica spoke in an impassioned tone jesting out in front of her while Angela stifled a laugh.

I slid onto the arm of the couch closest to Jessica with a drink in hand and leaned onto the back. Nothing particularly interesting was happening on the screen (Renee Zellweger was at some party) so I indulged Jessica, “I didn’t know homecoming queen was still a thing.”

Jessica lit up, “Oh yeah, it’s a huge thing here. You get driven around the firetruck and lead a parade to the gym. There's also floats and you get to pick your own court, isn’t that fun. Oh, and the flower arrangements are beautiful. I’m actually on the party planning committee, we’re doing a meeting this Saturday to start planning a date and appoint people for decoration and-.”

Angela shifted her attention, “I thought that we were going to the beach by La Push this Saturday?”

“No that’s next Saturday, the one after this week. Hey E, you interested in coming?”

Jessica shot me a side glance from her magazine, “If I don’t have any other commitments, I guess I could.”

“Uh, shouldn’t we talk to Mike first, since this was his trip”, Angela piped up.

I stared at her, “I don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

“Good everything settled then,” Jessica flipped a few more pages, “Oh, you two should also be looking for dress ideas,” She tossed a magazine to us both and continued on hers.

I swept over a few pages before focusing back on the movie and Angela never even touched hers, too engrossed in the wonders of Hugh Grant I suppose. I never understood his appeal in all honesty, but I wasn’t going to question Angela. 

We sat in a relatively peaceful quiet while Jessica was lazy watching the movie and flipping through a new magazine for hairstyles marking some off when she glanced at the tv. Her eyes narrowed for a second then she threw the magazine on the table, jumping over the stuff all over the floor and my legs, “Oh shit I nearly forgot. I’ll be back.” Angela and I gave her a confused look, but she just rushed to the door, grabbed the frame, and swung out.

After a trunk was slammed shut Jessica came back in with poster boards, “So I need your opinion on these as well.” She started to show off two different ones: a blue glitter one with gold lettering stating ‘Born to be Queen, Vote Jessica Stanley’ and a pastel pink one with silver lettering exclaiming ‘ Be a Gem, Vote Jessica Stanley Homecoming Queen” with a cartoon diamond on it.

“I think the blue one’s cute, I like the phrase,” Angela said. 

Jessica looked at it and completed it for a minute. Her face was scrunched and stared at it, “Well I don’t know. I thought it might be too flashy, but then again that would get people's attention. But I don’t want to scare them off”, she continued to babble on as Angela I think tried to keep up and interject with her opinion. It seemed fine to me, though I suppose I didn’t quite understand the need for all this anyways or why so much glitter was needed. It practically coated the floor. Jessica turned to me and stared, “So what do you think?”

“I think they both look nice, but why do you need this stuff now.”

“Well I’m hanging up and passing out everything tomorrow and I need opinions that aren't my mother’s or her friends so you two get to be the guinea pigs.”

“And this all needs to be started tomorrow?”

She scoffed and my apparent stupid remark, “You need to have everything ready early and pristine. That’s how you get votes. A nice smile, clean outfit, and neat posters and fliers give people a great impression of you. Oh by the way we’re leaving early tomorrow so can you please help set up posters?” She pleaded and pouted out her lower lip and it quivered slightly. 

I sighed, “Okay, Jessica if this means this much to you, I can help.” I said I’m sure it wasn’t going to be that bad.

When I agreed to do this I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

Bleary-eyed the first thing I was greeted to in the morning was Jessica freaking because we overslept despite it only being four-thirty which made me worried when she was going to have us wake up initially. 

Angela sat up and with her hair all knotted and frizzy around her head she slumped her shoulders, “But Jess it's like practically still night.”

“I will not be late today. Now double-time girls we need to look our best to do our best,” Jessica chirped as she ripped curlers out of her hair. 

Angela passed me while grunted reaching for a spray bottle and brush and feverishly pulled at her hair until it was straight, but still a bit frizzy. She left for the bathroom and I stood to follow her when I stumbled over Jessica's blanket, sitting back down I narrowed my eyes over to Jessica, “What are we getting out of this exactly?” 

“I’ll get everyone coffee and breakfast if we leave by five-fifteen.” She flashed a persuasive smile.

“I can buy my own breakfast, thanks,” I said and Angela grunted in agreement.

Jessica’s shoulders slumped and she lost the smile, “I dunno, I’ll put you two on my royal court?” Both Angela and I just stared at her, eyebrows raised.

“Friendship?”

I dragged myself over to the mirror next to Angela who was still brushing her teeth, I gave one more look to Jessica in the mirror raising my toothbrush to my lips, “Try again.”

Jessica threw her head in a dramatic fashion and rolled onto her feet and pushed us both over to get to her hairbrush, separating the curls, “Fine I’ll take us out to dinner AND a movie when we go dress shopping up in Port Angeles, okay? Is that good enough?” 

Angela smirked, “I think that’s a good start.” then left for the stairs. 

“Fine,” Jessica shouted after her, “but I need your two’s help for the whole campaign you hear me?”

I cringed, “I think the dead in Wyoming can hear you.”

By the time we got ready enough that Jessica deemed us acceptable we were five minutes behind schedule and she was driving like a maniac to the closet drive-thru coffee shop. Angela was hopping between stations when she landed on one with breaking news, “Two more girls, Sara Joel and Agatha Geller, have gone missing from Port Angeles.” The female reporter started, “This is following the disappearance of Marie Sear from earlier this week. Sara was last seen-”

Jessica changed the channel, “Ugh, I don’t need to hear that depressing crap now. I’m already stressed enough as it is.” She continued to flip until it landed on a station with Dar Williams It's Alright. She was about to change when Angela started to hum to it while looking out the window in a haze. Jessica took her hand off the dial and relaxed into her seat and I let the music wash over me. We didn’t talk for the rest of the time until we got to school.

Jessica got out of the car and started pointing carelessly with the hand holding her coffee, “Now I’ll take the east and south ends of the school and post posters on any available space, E you take north and Ang you take west. Put them up with purpose because I don’t need everywhere cluttered but it needs to be readably visible at any point in the school. Next, once we get the posters up we meet at the south entrance to the cafeteria and get ready to pass out fliers. Hopefully, Mike, Erik, and Tyler will have their lazy asses here and can lend a hand. Understand?” 

We both mumbled out our understanding and took our separate post at the different ends of the school. The sky looked like a grey blanket had been laid over the top of Forks, which to my dismay partially excited me. 

Today Bella and her family would most likely show up and since her strange appearance and exit from Jacob’s house, I hadn’t seen her and was anxiously gleeful and weary. I wasn’t quite sure how much I could get from her, though she did seem like she was going crack before the accident. I was worried if she was fine or not and even more confused and frustrated at that stunt she pulled. I would have called or gone and checked on her but I didn’t know where she lives and didn’t want to seem creepy. 

That night I was driven home by Jacob and he said he could get the car fixed by Monday night and that he would drive it over. I had been fairly quiet and Jacob let me stew in my own thoughts. I pondered and theorized over how the hell Bella stopped a fucking car. My rational side reasoned that Seth was able to break the car and Bella just had been lucky. But I saw the dent marks, they looked like hands had bent the metal. And the rest of the way she was acting up until that point was strange, hell even her nonchalant attitude after the accident was weird. Why wasn’t she in shock, why was she okay, just-

The poster board I was attempting to hang fell on and wobbled on the floor. I sighed and picked it back up. Maybe I should just listen to something calming. The first song I came across was The Dock of the Bay. I huffed and clicked on the song leaving one bud out focusing on taping up the stupid piece of paper. 

I walked down the hall a bit and started on a new poster when…

“Homecoming queen, huh? Didn’t think that was your thing.”

Bella Cullen was behind me next to my face. I threw myself against the wall and the poster board fell again. After seeing it was just Bella I let out a sigh, then I shoved her backward since she could obviously take a hit, “What the fuck.”

Bella pressed a hand up to her mouth trying to muffle a giggle that I still could hear. She took a deep breath and calmed her face, though not well, “I just wanted to tease you, but seriously” She nodded to the poster.

I grabbed it from the ground slightly crumpling the edge, Jessica be damned, and threw it back up on the wall. “If you could read you would see it’s not for me. Jessica needed help hanging these up so I offered.”

“Oh, what’s she paying you to do that?” Bella leaned against the wall holding the poster for me while I taped. She looked comfortable in her black jeans and black t-shirt and a black snapback, I could sense a theme for today. It fit her tightly exceptionally around her thighs, I quickly looked up and back to the poster with the start of a blush on my neck. I ripped some more scotch tape and laid it down.

“Dinner and a movie,” I answered, naively hoping that phrasing it like that would make her a bit jealous. Though technically that wasn’t a lie.

Bella hummed, no emotion shown through, “I could have done that for free.” I felt the blush creep further up my neck into my cheeks (pale skin also be damned), Bella looked pleased with herself. I knew she wasn’t serious, just teasing. I wasn’t actually quite sure why she was still talking to someone like me. Maybe she had nothing better to do. 

I looked back at her, into her eyes. They were a darker shade than the day before, but not by much. I was a bit of a dreamer at heart, or maybe a masochist was a better term, so I decided to be bold, “Would you now? If I agreed to go could I ask you some questions?” 

She seemed to get the implication based on the twinge of annoyance that sprang from her face, but her emotions were smoothed soon after, “I don’t answer probing questions until the fourth date, sorry.”

“That’s fine,” Bella seemed to like that answer until I finished with, “how many days this week are you free.”

Bella huffed, “Ha, ve-”

“Bella.”

At the end of the corridor, Rosalie and the rest of the Cullens and Hales stood behind her. She looked at both of us and had her lips turned down into a frown pointed at me. Bella let out an annoyed grumble that I barely heard and then pushed herself off the wall heading down towards the rest of her family. Halfway down she paused and turned facing me, “Okay September 23rd, it’s a date. Wear something cute.” Then gave me a wink before she finished her gaunt down seeming more pleased with herself. Rosalie tore into her the minute they were out of earshot by the looks of it, but Emmett gave her a back slap and said ‘nice’ before turning the corner. 

Did I… did I just get a date with Bella Cullen?

The blush worsened until I’m sure I was beat red and it felt like the blush was pulsing. My heart was in my throat thrumming and I tried to say something or move towards her but I couldn’t move. 

I was going out with Bella, which sounded like a living dream. 


End file.
